Else

Else is a 600-capacity open-air club beside the Spree in Berlin’s Alt-Treptow, close to Treptower Park. Its defining feature is a weather-ready outdoor dancefloor: a transparent roof covers the floor, while the DJ booth sits within the crowd. The site combines a large open-air floor with terraces and container-built corners, giving a club night the loose circulation of a small festival site.

A summer site interrupted by the bridge works

Else opened in summer 2013 as an open-air venue and craft-beer garden; event-industry listings identify it as an offshoot of Wilde Renate. The first season quickly brought a 2014 Club Award for best outdoor location, a useful marker of the venue’s early identity as a purpose-built warm-weather space instead of a converted hall.

Its sharpest break came in 2021. Booker Sebastian Voigt said construction on the Elsenbrücke and a changed permit, including land taken for the works, forced the club to cancel its planned season shortly before opening. Else returned April 1–3, 2022 after roughly a year and a half closed, with renovations, a reworked booth, and an opening-weekend bill featuring Hunee, Legowelt, Wata Igarashi and Young Marco.

The floor after dark

Else’s public-facing program centers on house and techno, while its booker has described a preference for artist-led, stylistically diverse lineups and a greater focus on the club’s own events. The outdoor floor has a wooden surface, with colorful timber platforms around it; after 22:00, an indoor room joins the action. Expect Lambda Labs QX3 sound, a booth surrounded on all sides by dancers, pizza through the day, and a riverside terrace for breaks. Entry is 21+ and payment is card-only.